The BBC is splashing big on an NHS scare story today. BBC Breakfast show was trawling for viewer comments and managed to get some along the lines of 'why is it so difficult to get a doctor's appointment'.
Their website says
:
Let's deconstruct that a little.
The King's Fund asked finance chiefs within the NHS. This suggests that they asked people with a vested interest in showing a need for more funding, and in showing an inability to do their job - manage the finances available to them. Hardly surprising that they want more money from the taxpayer!
19 of these finance chiefs expected care to get worse over the next few years. That is, finance chiefs are now qualified, according to the King's Fund, to comment on the future level of care that patients can receive. I think I might have been a tad more convinced if a physician had stated that!
Then we get the BBC survey. A meaningless statistic which asks a small sample of people a loaded question. Did the BBC ask 'Do you think that there is waste in the NHS?' Did they ask' Do you think doctors and consultants and 'managers' are overpaid and that the majority of NHS pensions are padded at the expense of yourself, the taxpayer?'
No they wouldn't, because it doesn't serve their own vested, leftist interest
So savings appear to have been made, and the level of service (maybe that could be called care?) remained good! While that cannot continue indefinitely, an annual budget of £104 Billion, should afford scope for further savings.
This must really upset the BBC and it's leftist allies. More than 50% of people don't care who gives them health care, just that it is free at the point of delivery. Can this mean that the scales are dropping from the eyes of the people? Are people now starting to understand that this bloated bureaucracy needs reform? Maybe some of the respondents have seen, first hand, what healthcare is like and how it can be efficiently funded, in other countries?
Their website says
:
Fresh fears are being raised in England that cuts will have to be made to the front line of the NHS if it is to cope.The government has promised to protect the health service, but research by the King's Fund, based on interviews with 45 NHS finance chiefs, raises doubts.
The think tank said 19 expected care to get worse over the next few years and that 2013 could mark the turning point.
Meanwhile, a BBC survey of 1,005 people suggested 60% believed services would have to be cut.
The majority of the 45 NHS directors of finance who took part in the think tank's study said they were currently managing to make savings without harming care.
Let's deconstruct that a little.
The King's Fund asked finance chiefs within the NHS. This suggests that they asked people with a vested interest in showing a need for more funding, and in showing an inability to do their job - manage the finances available to them. Hardly surprising that they want more money from the taxpayer!
19 of these finance chiefs expected care to get worse over the next few years. That is, finance chiefs are now qualified, according to the King's Fund, to comment on the future level of care that patients can receive. I think I might have been a tad more convinced if a physician had stated that!
Then we get the BBC survey. A meaningless statistic which asks a small sample of people a loaded question. Did the BBC ask 'Do you think that there is waste in the NHS?' Did they ask' Do you think doctors and consultants and 'managers' are overpaid and that the majority of NHS pensions are padded at the expense of yourself, the taxpayer?'
No they wouldn't, because it doesn't serve their own vested, leftist interest
The King's Fund said these sentiments were supported by the latest performance statistics which showed the NHS was performing well.
Waiting times in A&E and for non-emergency operations, such as knee and hip replacements, had fallen slightly and were well within target, while hospital infections rates continued to drop.
But health minister Lord Howe maintained the NHS was "on track" to achieve its savings target.
He said £5.8bn was saved last year, while performance remained good.
"Waiting times have been kept low, infections have been reduced, there are more doctors, more diagnostic tests and more planned operations," he added.
So savings appear to have been made, and the level of service (maybe that could be called care?) remained good! While that cannot continue indefinitely, an annual budget of £104 Billion, should afford scope for further savings.
The BBC poll, carried out by ComRes, asked members of the public in England a series of questions about the NHS.
Some 61% agreed that they expected the NHS would have to stop providing some treatments and services in the future due to rising costs and increasing demands.
Nearly three-quarters also said they did not trust the government with the health service.
Over half of respondents said it did not matter whether private firms provided care as long as it was free of charge - the government's reforms have come under heavy criticism amid a perception they would lead to greater private sector involvement.
This must really upset the BBC and it's leftist allies. More than 50% of people don't care who gives them health care, just that it is free at the point of delivery. Can this mean that the scales are dropping from the eyes of the people? Are people now starting to understand that this bloated bureaucracy needs reform? Maybe some of the respondents have seen, first hand, what healthcare is like and how it can be efficiently funded, in other countries?
But 2013 was seen as the year when it could start to unravel by many of the finance directors.
Why? Yes the Public Sector pay freeze ends but what is to say another one can't be imposed? Or that the pay settlement can't be held to a low percentage? What about reduced NHS pension contributions? What about these same Finance Chiefs getting around the table with their PFI providers and squeezing them? Same applies to other service and material suppliers, such as pharmaceutical companies. That's what happens in the private sector. When times are tough, you talk to you suppliers and get them to share some of the pain. You make them see it is in their interest.
But the dynamic in the public sector is different. There you get around the table with your suppliers and persuade them that it is their interests to help the public sector lobby for more taxpayer's money, so the suppliers don't get squeezed ...
ReplyDeleteMy bad! Years of private sector experience clashing with those methods employed in the 'Alice in Wonderland' world of NHS economics and business practice.
DeleteNot even the apparent public support (no thanks to cowardly Tory MPs) for the private provision of health-care services, will persuade this govt to publicly defend the policy, though.
ReplyDeleteIt is baffling, as the refusal to show any conviction for their own policies cannot simply be the implementation of an unpublished part of the Coalition Agreement.
I believe that the 'public' are ahead of politicians as regards 'cuts' in general and in terms of NHS reform.
ReplyDeleteThis BBC poll might just give courage for some politicos to 'fess up and admit that further and deeper 'real' cuts are needed, that raising taxes simply won't fill the hole and that the NHS is broken and a band aid won't heal it.